Mystery and the Feminine Mystique

Two figures easily associated with modern crime fiction appear on the London Observer’s new list of “50 Men Who Really Understand Women.” The top five, in descending order, are: actor George Clooney; Carl Djerassi, “father” of the birth-control pill; reproduction pioneer Robert Winston; former U.S. President Bill Clinton; and Philip Green, the owner of Britain’s Arcadia fashion group.

However, in sixth position on this rundown we find actor Daniel Craig, who took the lead in the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Of Craig, The Observer says:

Does Craig understand women? Who knows--that’s not why he’s on this list. Craig’s relevant because last year, he buffed up, stripped off and posed for the Casino Royale poster shot; and that image has contributed massively to a new understanding of women. The photograph is, let’s face it, gratuitous. It launched a million female fantasies; it re-awakened the crush instinct in women who had given up on fancying film stars.

Meanwhile, at No. 27 is William Boyd, author of the Costa Book Award-nominated wartime spy saga, Restless. Opines The Observer:

Definitely a novelist in touch with his female side. In his latest book, Restless, he writes in the first person as a single mother observing her erratic mother. All his books are dedicated to his wife.

Also on the newspaper’s list (published just in time for Valentine’s Day) are Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodóvar; author Nick Hornby; the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown; playwright and author Alan Bennett; country singer and songwriter Willie Nelson; and pianist-composer Burt Bacharach.